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Georgeland withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Nations
Georgeland's withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Nations , sometimes referred to by the media as Gexit, was a process begun by a national referendum on the subject in 2018. Momentum to leave the Commonwealth, which was widely seen as ineffective and obsolete, had been in place for some time and was a cause taken up by several leading activists and political figures. The referendum having resulted in favour of withdrawal, Georgeland formally ceased to be a member of the Commonwealth at midnight on 1 January 2020. Background Georgeland was settled by British colonists in 1781, and became part of the British Empire (though it had been claimed as British land since 1760). Over time, Georgeland gained more autonomy over its affairs and was granted full autonomy, retaining the constitutional monarchy, in 1891. Whether this constituted independence is a matter debated by historians. On the one hand, the Constitution Act of 1890 (passed by Westminster ) granted the colony control over its own external affairs and defence, but it was expected (and required under some circumstances) that the government in London play a supervisory role. The Governor-General of Georgeland , nominally a representative of the Crown, effectively acted as the British government's controlling influence in Georgeland. Georgeland attitudes towards the Empire cooled during and following World War I. The war was never popular in Georgeland, due in part to the many Irish Catholics who had emigrated. After the 1916 Easter Rising , those Irish ex-patriots began agitating for secession, with as many as 2000 imprisoned for treason around this time. Georgeland, unlike its neighbour Australia , was specifically excluded from the Paris Peace Conference after the war, further alienating it from Imperial interests. The 1926 Imperial conferenc e adopted the Balfour Declaration , which established the principle of all British dominions being equal, while subject to the Crown, and established the British Commonwealth of Nations. '''While supportive of the Declaration, the Labour government of Oscar Lyne was not satisfied. In part, this was due to the personal animosity between Lyne and his British counterpart, Stanley Baldwin, who detested one another. Lyne only reluctantly agreed to the Declaration and upon his return home began to more openly suggest independence as an alternative. In this he was buoyed by strong support from working-class Irish nationalists, who made up a considerable part of Lyne's constituency. In April 1928, in response to the rising tide of nationalism, a national referendum was held on independence from Britain, having been strongly supported by, among others, the Catholic Church and members of the Irish expatriot population. The referendum was called in response to increasing pressure and was seen, by the conservative government, as a way of reaffirming British sovereignty. The government and most of the press believed the referendum would fail; however, high turnout among Irish Catholics and other supporters of independence, and low turnout among opponents (who believed a loss for the independence cause was a foregone conclusion) saw a narrow victory of 52% to 48% of those that voted. The Conservative leader, Frederick Eccles, had campaigned against the referendum and strongly advocated a no vote. However, after the new government was sworn in, Eccles and the Cabinet agreed that they would implement the result, as not doing so risked insurrection among nationalists. Further, Eccles believed independence would bring Britain back to the bargaining table, and that Georgeland could instead be re-admitted to the British Commonwealth at a later date and restore the monarchy, having proved unable to sustain independence. Georgeland became a republic on 1 July 1929, leaving the British Empire at the same time. While London was highly displeased (King George V was reported to have been in tears at the prospect of losing Georgeland from his dominions), formal diplomatic relations were maintained and Georgeland asserted its independence. This was particularly apparent during World War II , when Georgeland remained neutral after the British declaration of war on Germany , only joining the war in 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour . Following the war, in 1949 the Commonwealth dropped the word 'British' from its name, and became the '''Commonwealth of Nations. With victory in the war having been achieved, animosity between Britain and Georgeland had by this time subsided, and discussions began anew as to whether or not to be re-admitted to the organisation. In 1954, just after winning power for the second time, new Prime Minister Nathan Keegan formally applied to the Commonwealth for Georgeland to be admitted. By this time, contrary to Eccles' beliefs of some decades before, attitude towards the monarchy had cooled, and no serious momentum existed to restore it. In 1955, three years before Georgeland joined the United Nations (a body to which Keegan was opposed), Georgeland became a Commonwealth member. With Georgeland's membership of the UN, as well as SEATO (from 1954 to 1977) and the Non-Aligned Movement (from 1972 to 1981), relations with the Commonwealth were never a priority in Georgeland foreign policy. The Labour governments of Victor Howard (1970-73) and Bradley Van Goen (1973-78) were focused on building relationships with Asian and African countries on a bilateral basis, and away from traditional Anglo-Georgeland diplomacy. After Georgeland withdrew from the NAM in 1981, successive governments also became closer to the United States (until the early 2000s), again making the Commonwealth largely irrelevant to national policy. Nonetheless, Georgeland continued an active and participatory membership, and hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 1985 and 2003. The government of Campbell Rhodes was more explicitly pro-Commonwealth, and Rhodes himself was an enthusiastic participant. At the CHOGM meeting in Santa Christina in 2003, of which Rhodes was host, he said: : "We relish the Commonwealth not for what it has been, or what it is now, but what it can become. The nations in this body are bound together by ties of blood, both the blood in the veins and the blood spilled upon the ground. The Commonwealth is no longer a body of loyalty to Great Britain; it is now a body of those nations who have fought and suffered under a discredited imperial philosophy. It is a body of nations that has the potential to lead the world in decolonisation, human rights, and never again accepting the mistakes of the past." Successive governments were somewhat less enthusiastic and preferred a bilateral approach. As relationships with neighbours India and Australia declined, and with African countries improved, the Commonwealth again became a lesser focus of Georgeland foreign policy. In 2009, the Conservative government published a White Paper entitled ''Georgeland as a Commonwealth Stalwart: The future of multilateralism between Topstad and the Former British Empire. ''That white paper recommended that while the country remain in the Commonwealth, that its support for the organisation be contingent on respect for human rights and the rule of law. It was especially critical of the Commonwealth for allowing the inclusion of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Brunei, and of its turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in those countries. The government did not act upon the report, but it did generate discussion in parliament and the press on the changing nature of the Commonwealth. The movement to withdraw from the organisation began in earnest in 2013. Then Prime-Minister Lawrence Porter attended the CHOGM meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and was photographed shaking hands with Sri Lankan president Mahindra Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa had been accused with war crimes following the Sri Lankan Civil War, and Porter was criticised by sections of his own party for his overt support for the Sri Lankan government. Criticism of the Commonwealth was again an issue of national discussion, and several high-profile political figures opined that Georgeland should withdraw from the organisation. One argument frequently cited by advocates of withdrawal was that the organisation hampered rather than assisted with decolonisation efforts in Africa and Asia. With Georgeland's demography having shifted in the 2000s and 2010s to the point where one-in-five Georgelanders came from an Asian or African background, membership in an organisation that derived from the British Empire was seen by many as inappropriate. Referendum Negotiations for withdrawal Consequences